Fried Chicken Trail

What makes good fried chicken? A question asked many times and sure to never be answered in the end-all, most perfect recipe. Grandmas, of course, are known for great fried chicken, either in reality or in the distant memories of Sunday afternoon dinners of our youth. Their's was the best and all others must forever stand in comparison, always sniffing but never fully becoming what is remembered. A product of our culinary memories or the real deal? Surely not everyone's Grandmother made the best. Unless of course there is a secret grandmotherly club dispensing the same fried chicken, meatloaf, and biscuit recipes to countless elderly ladies across the South. Trying to eclipse those memories is destined for failure but starting new memories for the new generation we must do. At this rate our children's fried chicken memories will be in a bucket or, please help us, a bag 'o frozen tenders hastily microwaved or, if time isn't of the essence, maybe thrown in the oven and served with some ranch or honey mustard.

The Fried Chicken Trail. Now there is a trail worth discovering. Ask someone who has the best fried chicken in town and you're likely to receive at best a blank stare or a look of bewilderment - like they've lost their car keys and they're trying to remember where they had them last. They want to say the usual suspects of chains but are too embarrassed, knowing full well that old-fashioned fried chicken they do not serve but they just can't remember the last time they had fried chicken not in a bucket. So they might try to rattle off a place or two. Mind you, they may have never been there, but they pass it all the time and the sign says the chicken is good. Fried chicken, let's set out to remember.

In continuing down our Fried Chicken Trail we made a trek down to Nashville, Tennessee for their specialty, Hot Chicken. Over the next few weeks we'll detail that odyssey as well as give you some new recipes related to our quest. Check out our earlier entry on the World Festival to see just how deep we're willing to go.